


John Watson Only Lives Once, Right?

by nexttothesea



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Army Doctor John Watson, First Kiss, M/M, POV First Person, Pre and Post Reichenbach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27940073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nexttothesea/pseuds/nexttothesea
Summary: People always told John Watson that "You Only Live Once" and he believed that once he stopped living and started only existing after the War. That was until he lived for the second time when he met Sherlock Holmes, what happens when that life ends too? What if he found Sherlock again, does he live again?
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes & John Watson, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13
Collections: You Only Live Once





	John Watson Only Lives Once, Right?

Since I was a child, I've heard people around me saying "You only live once" all the time. I never paid it much attention, yet I found it had rooted in my mind.

It was true, I suppose, I did live once. I lived in Afghanistan, among the adrenaline pumping through my veins and the thrill of saving lives. It was dangerous and exhausting, but I was alive and living. I was surrounded by friends who you could lean on no matter, we were all experiencing life together.

People say it's the war that kills you, but it was the after for me. It left me only existing, not living. Strangers with friendly faces would pity me and tell me constantly 'it would get better', it never felt like it would. Mycroft had been right. I wasn't haunted by the war, I missed it.

I proved that phrase "You Only Live Once" wrong when I met Sherlock. I lived for the second time when I met him. He taught me to breathe again without the weight in my chest and the pain in my leg. The second time I lived, I loved too. We would pace through the buzzing streets of London and I'd watch his eyes light up with joy at crime scenes. We'd laze on the sofa too, watch crap telly and giggle in situations we really shouldn't have.

My second life ended just as abruptly as my first. It ended with Sherlock lifeless before me and nightmares that followed me into my waking hours. When my first life came knocking at the door in the form of a letter from the RAMC, what was there to lose?

I packed my bag and left as soon as I could, told nobody but Mrs Hudson. Mycroft would undoubtedly know but it didn't matter anymore, nothing tied the elder Holmes to me since Sherlock left.

The familiar comfort of the sand and the adrenaline was refreshing. I felt alive again. Not the way Sherlock had allowed me to - never again - but it was enough.

When I had been here before I'd been a General, nobody was aware of this back home. Not even Mycroft nor Sherlock to my knowledge knew that my clearance levels exceeded Mycroft's. It was confidential. There were missions I'd carried out that nobody were to know of. So it was not much of a surprise to myself that I was approached by Brigadier Richards about a solo rescue mission a few months into my deployment.

That's how I found myself staring into his eyes again. Sherlock's. My rescue mission was for him and it was him that I'd found, without a doubt. He had been unconscious when I found him and fighting against the images of that day in my mind, I somehow got him safely back to base.

"You have so much to explain." I stated once he'd blinked back into consciousness.

"John!? What- what are you doing here?"

"Saving your arse apparently, per usual."

"No, in Afghanistan!"

"Being a soldier, obviously."

"I am going to murder Mycroft. I told him not to let you do anything stupid."

"Oh I think I am beyond Mycroft by now Sherlock," I say as an officer behind me gets my attention.

"General Watson! Brigadier has someone on the line wanting you." He says.

"General?!?" Sherlock exclaims and I whip my head round and smirk at his outburst.

"Rest, I'll be back when you wake up. Maybe if you explain everything, I'll explain everything too. Deal?"

"Fine." He says as he rolls his eyes, and it had never felt so good to have a smart-arsed Sherlock by my side.

Perhaps, I'd get to live three times.  
And I was right, I lived again for the third time when Sherlock’s lips first met mine.

**Author's Note:**

> This came up as an idea in the middle of my chemistry mock so I came home and typed it up! Do you want a Sherlock POV??
> 
> UPDATE - I've written a  Sherlock POV so please feel free to go check it out :)


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